Starz Talks Sale With 21st Century Fox

Executives from Starz met on Tuesday with 21st Century Fox and discussed selling the premium network programmer.

21st Century Fox last month called off a bid for Time Warner, whose key assets include HBO. Rupert Murdoch’s media company has since said it plans no major acquisitions—and Starz would carry a pricetag in the billions of dollars.

One executive familiar with the meeting said Fox agreed to meet with Starz as a courtesy and had no interest in pursuing a transaction. The talks were originally reported by the Los Angeles Times.

A Starz spokesman did not return a request for a comment.

It is unclear if Starz, controlled by John Malone, will attempt to sell itself to other media companies.

Starz stock rose more than 5% in early trading Wednesday on the possibility the company will be acquired.